{"id":1717,"date":"2021-05-24T15:33:06","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T19:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/40.117.174.162\/la-revolucion-de-las-mujeres-emprendedoras\/"},"modified":"2021-05-24T15:33:06","modified_gmt":"2021-05-24T19:33:06","slug":"la-revolucion-de-las-mujeres-emprendedoras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trust-oea.org\/en\/la-revolucion-de-las-mujeres-emprendedoras\/","title":{"rendered":"The revolution of women entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

In March 2020, the world entered a pandemic due to COVID-19 and, without preamble or warning, we had to modify all our activities. Caught up in this whirlwind were Nicaraguan women living in exile in Costa Rica who are part of the country's informal economy. Informality, so widespread in our America, has two sides: it allows the survival of thousands of families who work by offering services and products door-to-door, but it is also concerning because it hinders access to social security and makes it difficult for them to maintain social distancing, a requirement of this pandemic, during these times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Given this scenario, I began working with 12 Nicaraguan single mothers who have survived thanks to their resilience, offering a product or service practically from door to door. They get around accompanied by a cell phone with data that they buy when they can, because the priority is paying for their room or house\u2014all located in marginalized neighborhoods\u2014and feeding their family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, after five months of steady work through WhatsApp chats, we have established fluent communication that is reflected in the numerous exchanges related to their business ventures, difficulties, dreams, and doses of reality. Participation is very motivating in both quality and quantity. The process of consolidating a close-knit group was initially slow; little by little, these women have raised their self-esteem, generated higher quality products and processes, and see themselves and call themselves businesswomen.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This group of 12 women have worked analyzing videos that The Trust for the Americas <\/em>have been created to empower other women in similar conditions, we dared to meet in person just once to develop a workshop on CANVAS, respecting distancing protocols and protection tools, in an open-air physical space, full of plants and life. That day we met face-to-face and a sorority network was formed that remains to this day. We are at a very significant stage, they have created their CANVAS and, with the support of an expert on the subject, we have thoroughly reviewed them in order to provide feedback and enhance each one for prompt implementation.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We are in the process of returning them one by one for you to refine and turn into an Action Plan. In parallel, we are taking advantage of a set of videos generated by The Trust for the Americas <\/em>about the CANVAS tool, and each is analyzing the topics in which they have expressed the most difficulty. In the midst of this process, and motivated by their comments and difficulties revealed in the first chat exchange process, they were offered a talk on Self-love in entrepreneurship<\/em> which turned out to be a catapult that launched them to feel even more secure. Even one confessed that she had thought of dropping out of the process and thanks to the talk she would continue.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today these women want to continue receiving information and training, they discuss their processes more fluently, they have improved their production and delivery routes. They are making an internal revolution for themselves and their families, which will be reflected in their community. The presentation of their process and their ventures before a jury that will assign a mini grant<\/em> to six of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This initiative, led by The Trust for the Americas, has served as a driving force, a safe haven, and a source of companionship for 12 women who decided to embark on the entrepreneurial path\u2014a journey that often feels lonely\u2014and who now share their experiences and support one another from afar. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In March 2020, the world entered the COVID-19 pandemic, and without warning or notice, we had to change all of our activities. Caught up in this turmoil were Nicaraguan women living in exile in Costa Rica who are part of that country\u2019s informal economy. Informal work, so widespread throughout our Americas, has two sides:\u00a0it enables thousands of families to make a living by offering services and products door-to-door, but it is also a cause for concern because it hinders access to social security and, in these times, makes it difficult to maintain social distancing\u2014a requirement of this pandemic.\u00a0 Against this backdrop, I began working with 12 Nicaraguan women, all heads of households, who have survived thanks to their resilience by selling products or providing services practically door-to-door. They carry a cell phone with data plans they purchase when they can\u2014since their priority is paying rent for their room or house (all of which are located in marginalized neighborhoods) and feeding their families.\u00a0 Today, after five months of constant work via WhatsApp chats, we have established fluid communication, reflected in the numerous exchanges regarding their ventures, their challenges, their dreams, and their dose of reality.\u00a0Their participation is highly motivating in both quality and quantity. The process of building a cohesive group was slow at first; little by little, these women have boosted their self-esteem, produced higher-quality products and processes, and now see themselves\u2014and call themselves\u2014entrepreneurs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This group of 12 women has been working by analyzing videos created by The Trust for the Americas to empower other women in similar situations, we took the initiative to meet in person just once to conduct a CANVAS workshop, adhering to social distancing protocols and using protective equipment, in an open, physical space filled with plants and life. That day, we met face-to-face and formed a SISTERHOOD NETWORK that continues to this day.\u00a0\u00a0We are at a very significant stage: they have created their CANVAS models, and with the support of an expert in the field, we have thoroughly reviewed them to provide feedback and strengthen each one, with the goal of prompt implementation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We are in the process of providing feedback one by one, so they can refine them and turn them into an Action Plan.\u00a0\u00a0At the same time, we\u2019re using a series of videos created by The Trust for the Americas about the CANVAS tool, and each participant is analyzing the topics where she has expressed the most difficulty.\u00a0In the midst of this process, and motivated by their comments and the challenges they shared during the initial chat-based exchange, they were offered a talk on \u201cSelf-Love in Entrepreneurship,\u201d which served as a catalyst that helped them feel even more confident.\u00a0 One even confessed that she had considered dropping out of the program but, thanks to the talk, would continue. Today, these women want to keep receiving information and training; they discuss their processes more fluently and have improved their production and delivery processes. They are bringing about an internal revolution for themselves and their families, which will be reflected in their community. They still need to present their progress and business ventures to a jury that will award a mini-grant to six of them.\u00a0 This process, led by The Trust for the Americas, has served as a driving force, a refuge, and a source of companionship for 12 women who decided to embark on the path of entrepreneurship\u2014a path that often feels lonely\u2014but who now share their experiences and support one another from a distance. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":1730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trust-oea.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trust-oea.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trust-oea.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trust-oea.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trust-oea.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trust-oea.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trust-oea.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trust-oea.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trust-oea.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trust-oea.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1717"}],"curies":[{"name":"well played","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}